juliafmuseum - Middle Ages Artifacts

The Black Death	Medieval Trade Fairs and Guilds	Surviving the Viking Invasions

This image shows a man lying limp in a bed, with what appears to be family members and medical people surrounding him. Apparently he has been inflicted with the Bubonic plague and is near death. The black death brought on serious effects, in life changing ways. First it effected the economy, by killing all of the crops because of the unattended fields. With the rising of prices and products, inflation was common throughout Europe. So many people died, the work force was depleted. Soon workers and owners became deeply distressed. Also socially the plague scared people, because whole towns were being killed off one by one. So some people turned to witchcraft and magic, while others turned to the church. But when the church proved to be useless, the townspeople lost their faith. Also politically, government officials were dying off, and the government was slowly crumbling away. This left no one in charge, and pure chaos ensued.	This painting is of a hand picking up a coin from a large pile of what looks to be gold money. The coins are not like modern day coins and are all gold. They are thinner and larger, but come in different sizes too (Wider then usual US coins). Also in the medieval times many people used bills of exchange to keep their money safe. So when men/woman traveled they could keep their bill of exchange with them, to know they have their money when they come back. With more coins to trade with, people could keep their goods/crops that they would normally sell to make their money for their family and home. By having coins it also gave the towns people a very useful advantage. Trying to hide a whole field of crops from a theif is nearly impossible. But with coins you can hide them in places in your home, or keep them in your pockets safley.	This painting is of some vikings ships going across an unknown sea. They are riding very old fashion ships with big masses and sails with symbols printed on them.The earlier viking were not a as harsh and ravenous, but as the vikings grew in size they became more "bloodthirsty". When they pillaged towns/villages they stole goods and money, and killed anyone who got in their way no matter who they were. This terrified people and soon everyone was alert and ready for an attack. As the vikings stole more goods, the economy dropped because people lost lots of crops and goods during the pillages. Not only were the townspeople frightened, but the kings and nobles as well. Most kings didn't try to protect their towns, while others actually cared and tried to prevent the vikings by setting up defenses.